Gate hinge and closer assembly

ABSTRACT

A gate hinge and closer assembly arranged to close a fence gate includes a bearing component and a hanger component. Either component is attached to a fence post and the other attached to the fence gate. One of the components has a hollow open-ended pintle, a bearing member mounted in the pintle and biasing means while the other component has a pintle socket and a camming surface fixedly disposed in the pintle socket. When the gate is opened, the biasing means is compressed by the bearing member being cammed along the camming surface, thereby providing the necessary force for the return movement of the bearing member along the camming surface and the movement of the gate toward its closed position. The assembly is constructed for relative movement between the bearing member and the camming surface irrespective of whether the pintle or the camming surface is held stationary, and irrespective of the direction of the opening of the gate.

M11118 Duncan States act 1 GATE HINGE AND CLOSER ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor:Alan WI Duncan, River Forest, Ill. 7'

[73 Assignee: Sears, Roebuck and Co., Chicago,

Ill.

[22] Filed: Mar. 8, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 232,696

[52] US. Cl 16/50, 16/153, 248/417 [51] Int. Cl E051 3/20 [58] Field ofSearch 16/152, 153, 154,

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Germany 16/154 Primary Examiner-BernardA. Gelak A ant liLm n rls er. @Asshsnbrs Attorney-Nathan N. Kraus,Gerald S. Schur et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A gate hinge and closer assembly arranged to close afence gate includes a bearing component and a hanger component. Eithercomponent is attached to a fence post and the other attached to thefence gate. One of the components has a hollow open-ended pintle, abearing member mounted in the pintle and biasing means while the othercomponent has a pintle socket and a camming surface fixedly disposed inthe pintle socket. When the gate is opened, the biasing means iscompressed by the bearing member being cammed along the camming surface,thereby providing the necessary force for the return movement of thebearing member along the camming surface and the movement of the gatetoward its closed position. The assembly is constructed for relativemovement between the bearing member and the camming surface irrespectiveof whether the pintle or the camming surface is held stationary, andirrespective of the direction of the opening of the gate.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures GATE HINGE AND CLOSER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a gate hinge andcloser assembly arranged to automatically close a fence gate after ithas been opened from either side of the fence. Usually, fence gates arehinged to fence posts by simple pintle and pintle socket arrangementswherein no provision is made for automatically closing the gate after itis opened. Often a spring is attached between the fence and gate, in amanner similar to the spring on a screen door, to provide closing of thegate in one direction. More recently, a double spring and fingerarrangement has been used to provide a closing .mechanism for fencegates. However, these gate closers are separate from the gate hinges andnecessitate the installation of the additional apparatus. Moreover,these separate gate closers do not provide for automatically maintainingthe gate in a fully opened position, although such a position is oftendesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention is theprovision of a hinge and closer assembly for a fence gate which permitsthe opening of the gate in either direction and provides forautomatically returning the gate to its closed position after theopening movement is completed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a gate hinge andcloser assembly which can be paired with a gate hinge of any type,including a simple pintle and pintle socket type hinge, for effectivelyproviding for the hinging and automatic closing of a fence gate afterthe gate is opened in either direction.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a gate hinge andcloser assembly having mounting components which are separable intoportions for encircling a fence post or gate member and for clamping thecomponents about such members.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparentfrom the following description when the same is'considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a gate hingeand closer assembly arranged to close a fence gate which comprises abearing component and a hanger component. One of the components isadapted to be mounted on a fence post and the other adapted to bemounted on a gate. One of the components has a hollow open-ended pintle,a bearing member mounted in the pintle for axial movement in relationthereto, and biasing means for biasing the bearing member away from thebase of the pintle along the axis of the pintle. The other component hasa pintle socket and a camming surface fixedly disposed in the socket forrotation therewith, the camming surface having at least one valley andat least one ridge. The bearing member has a bearing surface engageablewith the camming surface and adapted to engage the valley when the gateis in a closed position. The bearing member is operable upon rotation ofthe two components of the assembly with respect to each other upon theopening of the gate in either direction to move along the 'cammingsurface away from the valley toward the ridge and axially toward thebase of the pintle. The movement of the bearing member toward the baseof the pintle compresses the biasing means, thereby providing a force tourge the bearing member toward engagement with the valley of the cammingsurface thus urging relative movement between the two components of theassembly and the gate toward a closed position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a front elevational view ofa gate in closed position with a pair of gate hinge and closerassemblies, in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, takensubstantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, takensubstantially on line 3-3 of FIG. I.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially on line 4-4 ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially on line 5-5 ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially on line 6-6 ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially on line 7-7 ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view, partially broken, illustratingthe pintle socket and bearing member in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but completely in elevation, andshowing the gate in fully opened position.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially on line 10-10 ofFIG. 9.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the particularconstruction shown in the drawings, a gate 15 is pivotally supported ona tubular fence post 16 by a pair of gate hinge and closer assemblies ofthe present invention l7, 18. The gate is arranged to swing in bothdirections, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2, to allow passagetherethrough.

The gate ll5 is of conventional construction and includes a tubular gateframe 19 which carries stretched fence material 21 held in position byclamps 22 which secure the end rods 23 passing through the loops of thefence material 19 to the vertical members-24 and 26 of the gate frame19. The hinge and closer assemblies l7, 18 are identical and eachincludes a bearing component and a hanger component. As shown in FIG. I,the assemblies are constructed so that either component of the assemblymay serve as the bearing component or the hanger component. Thus,assembly 18 is installed adjacent the bottom portion of gate 15 whileassembly 17 is disposed in mirror-image fashion towards the top of gate15. Installation of the assemblies l7, 18 in this manner prevent liftingof the gate from the fence post 16. In addition, one of the gate hingeand closer assemblies 17, 18 can be replaced with a gate hinge of anyother construction (not shown) and the remaining assembly of the presentinvention will provide the desirable automatic closing of the gate inaccordance with this invention.

The gate and hinge assembly l7 or I8 includes two components, one beingadapted to be mounted on the fence post 16 and the other adapted to bemounted on the vertical member 24 of the gate frame 19. The assembly ofthe present invention is constructed so that either component can beadapted to be mounted on the fence post 16 or the vertical member 24 asdesired. For the purpose of illustration, only one of the components isshown as being adapted to be mounted on the fence post 16 and the otheras being adapted to be mounted on the vertical member 24 of gate frame19. As shown in H0. 1, the hanger component of assembly 17 is mounted onfence post 16 while the bearing component of assembly 18 is mounted onthe fence post, although, as will be hereinafter described, the twocomponents are identical.

As particularly shown in FIGS. 24, the assemblies 17, 18 of the presentinvention include a first housing 27 having a hollow open-ended pintle28, the housing 27 and pintle 28 formed preferably as by die casting. Abearing member 29 is mounted in pintle 28 for axial movement in relationto the pintle. Bearing member 29 preferably is in the shape of a cap andhas two diametrically opposed bearing surfaces 31 supported by integralflanges 33 and 34, respectively, extending outwardly along the sides ofbearing member 29 and joumaled in slots 36 and 37 respectively, formedin the wall of pintle 28. Also disposed within pintle 28 is biasingmeans, which can be a spring 38 as shown, which biases bearing member 29away from the base of pintle 28 along the axis of the pintle. Pintle 28,bearing member 29 and spring 38 comprise one of the components of thepresent invention as described above.

The other component of the present invention includes a pintle socketand a camming surface fixedly disposed in the socket as will now bedescribed. This component includes a housing 39 which is formed with acup-shaped opening 41 adapted to support a pintle socket 42 disposedtherein. Housing 39 is preferably formed of the same material as housing27 preferably by die casting. Although pintle socket 42 is shown as adistinct member of synthetic resinous or plastic material, is isunderstood that pintle socket 42 can be formed integrally with housing39, for example by machining housing 39 substantially to the interiorconfiguration of pintle socket 42. it is preferable to have pintlesocket 42 formed of synthetic resinous material, particularly materialsof the nylon and Teflon-type materials for improved wear and noise-freeoperation of the assembly. Housing 39 preferably includes shoulders 43which cooperate with shoulders 44 formed exteriorally on pintle socket42 to fixedly mount pintle socket 42 to housing 39 for rotationtherewith, while preventing rotation therebetween.

A camming surface 46 is provided on the interior of pintle socket 42adjacent its bottom surface, as particularly shown in FIGS. 8 and 10.Preferably, camming surface 46 is interiorally, annularly formed on thebottom interior surface of pintle socket 42. Camming surface 46 isformed with at least one valley 47 and at least one ridge 48.Preferably, camming surface 46 is formed with a pair of diametricallyopposed valleys 47 and a pair of diametrically opposed ridges 48.Additionally, the valleys 47 and the ridges 48 are aligned so that aplane defined by the pair of valleys and the axis of the pintle socketis perpendicular to the plane defined by the ridges and the axis of thepintle socket.

As illustrated in the drawings, in the preferred embodiment pintle 28 iscylindrically shaped and pintle socket 42 is formed in the shape of acylindrical cup having an interior diameter only slightly larger thanthe exterior diameter of pintle 28.

The housings 27 and 39 are formed of two separable portions which areadapted for assembly about the fence post 16 or the vertical member 24of gate 15. [n

particular, housing 27 is separable into two portions 49, 51 and housing39 is also separable into two portions 52,53. The housings 27,39 areconstructed with encircling means, for example, an interiorally formedaperture 54 having interiorally facing ribs 56, for encircling the fencepost 16 and the vertical member 24.

The assembly can be readily installed, for example, on fence post 16 byfirst separating the portions of housing 27 and then reassembling thehousing about fence post 16. Housing 27 is disassembled by removal ofmachine screw 57 and separation of portions 49 and 51 to cause flanges58 and 59 on portions 49 and 51, respectively, to abut at their corners61 and 62. In this manner, clip 63 can be removed to complete theseparation of portions 49 and 51. Installation of the assembly on fencepost 16 is effected by placing the two portions 49 and 51 on either sideof fence post 16 at a selected height, placing clip 63 over flanges 58and 59, and fastening the portions 49 and 51 together by installingmachine screw 57. Thereafter, spring 38 and bearing member 29 areinstalled in pintle 28 with flanges 33 and 34 disposed at leastpartially within slots 36 and 37, respectively, formed in pintle 28. Tocomplete the installation of the assembly of the present invention,pintle socket 42 can be placed over bearing member 29 and pintle 28 sothat bearing surfaces 31 and 31 are in contact with diametricallyopposed valleys 47 of camming surface 46, followed by disassembly ofhousing 39 followed by reassembly of the housing about vertical member24 of gate 15 at a selected height so that when the housing 39 isinstalled over and about pintle socket 42, spring 38 is slightlycompressed, as shown in FIG. 4. As the assembly and disassembly ofhousing 39 are identical to the assembly and disassembly of housing 27and since the flanges, clip and bolt are substantially identical to thedesignated parts with respect to housing 27, the parts bear the samereferance numerals and further description thereof is unnecessary. Inthis manner, the assembly of the present invention is installed inoperating position to swingingly attach gate 15 to fence post 16.

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that other means maybe provided to attach the assembly of the present invention to fencepost 16 and vertical member 24 of gate 15. For example, a strap andclamp or bolt arrangement may be used in place of the encircling meansprovided by housings 27 and 39 to fasten pintle 28 and the portion ofhousing 39 supporting pintle socket 42 to fence post 16 and member 24,respectively. However, in the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention it is preferable to have housings 27 and 39 separable into twoportions and to provide apertures 54 which provide encircling means forencircling the respective tubular members of the fence and gate. Asshown in the drawings, it is preferred to construct housing 27 so as tobe separable into portions 49 and 51 along a plane defined by the axisof encircling aperture 54 formed in housing 27 and by a diameter of thataperture. Similarly, it is preferred to construct housing 39 with asimilar encircling aperture 54 formed in the housing, with the housingfurther constructed to be separable into portions 52, 53 along a planedefined by the axis of the encircling aperture 54 and a diameter of theaperture. As further shown in the drawings, it is even more preferred toconstruct housing 27 so as to be separable into two portions along aplane defined by the axis of the encircling aperture formed therein, the

axis of pintle 28, a diameter of the encircling aperture and a diameterof the pintle, and to construct housing 39 so as to be separable along aplane defined by the axis of the encircling aperture formed therein, theaxis of the cup-shaped supporting structure for pintle socket 42 anddiameters of the encircling aperture and the cup-shaped supportingstructure. The diameters along which the planes are defined can bealigned, as shown in the drawings, so that the portions of the housingscan be formed substantially as mirror images of each other. In thismanner, the construction of the housings are facilitated.

The operation of the assembly of the present invention can be describedstarting with the rest or closed position, i.e., with gate in its closedposition, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-8. As particularly shown in FIG. 4,in this position bearing member 29 is extended axially of pintle 28 tothe full extent of its travel with bearing sur faces 31 engaging valleys47 of camming surface 46.

Upon opening gate 15 in either direction, gate 15 and the attachedcomponent of the assembly of the present invention, for example as shownin FIG. 4, the hanger component including pintle socket 42 is rotatedabout the other component, which as shown is the bearing component,which in this case includes pintle 28. It is understood that thesecomponents may be reversed, as

for example, in the installation of assembly 17 shown in FIG. 1.Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, upon rotation of pintle socket 42 aboutpintle 28, bearing surfaces 31 are caused to move along camming surface46 away from valleys 47 toward ridges 48. Relative movement betweenbearing member 29 and camming surface 46 in this manner causes bearingmember 29 to move axially toward the base of pintle 28 therebycompressing spring 38. The relative movement between bearing member 29and camming surface 46 can continue as gate 15 is opened until bearingsurfaces 31 engage ridges 48 of camming surface 46. This condition isillustrated in FIG. 10. Spring 38 in compression provides the necessaryforce which urges bearing member 29 to move back along camming surface46, by causing movement therebetween, concurrently urging gate 15 towhich camming surface 46 is fixed to rotate to a normal closed positionupon its release.

Thus, as gate 15 is caused to be rotated in one direc-' tion or another,spring 38 is compressed and develops a force tending to restore gate 15to a normal closed position. when it is released. In addition, cammingsurface 46 in providing a pair of valleys 47 and a pair of ridges 48 foroperation with the pair of bearing surfaces 31 provides a balancedoperation. Further camming surface 46 provides for holding gate 15 in afully opened position when gate 15 and pintle socket 42 are rotated asufficient distance to cause bearing surfaces 31 to be cammed alongcamming surface 46 past ridges 48. In this position, gate 15 is heldopen until the gate is moved sufficiently to return bearing surfaces 31back over ridges 48 where the action of spring 38 automatically returnsgate 15 to its closed position.

Various changes coming within the spirit of my invention may suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art; hence, I do not wish to belimited to the specific embodiments shown and described and usesmentioned, but intend the same to be merely examplary, the scope of myinvention beig limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gate hinge and closer assembly arranged to close a fence gate, saidassembly comprising a bearing component and a hanger component,

one of said components adapted to be mounted on a fence post and theother adapted to be mounted on a gate,

one of said components having a hollow open-ended pintle, a bearingmember mounted in said pintle for axial movement in relation thereto,and biasing means for biasing said bearing member away from the base ofsaid pintle along the axis of said pintle,

the other of said components having a pintle socket and a cammingsurface fixedly disposed in said socket for rotation therewith, saidcamming surface having at least one valley and at least one ridge,

said bearing member having a bearing surface engageable with saidcamming surface, said bearing member upon rotation of said componentswith respect to each other when opening of the gate in either directionbeing operable to move along said camming surface away from said valleytoward said ridge and axially toward the base of said pintle, andthereby to compress said biasing means, and said biasing means urgingsaid bearing member toward engagement with said valley of said cammingsurface and the gate toward a closed position.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said camming surfaceincludes a pair of diametrically opposed valleys and a pair ofdiametrically opposed ridges, said bearing member having a pair ofdiametrically opposed cam following bearing surfaces.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said valleys and the axisof said pintle socket define a plane which is perpendicular to the planedefined by said ridges and the axis of the pintle socket.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said pintle iscylindrically shaped and said pintle socket comprises a cylindrical cupfixedly mountedwith respect to said other component, said cammingsurface being interiorally, annularly formed on the bottom of said cup.I a V 5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said componentseach comprise two separable portions adapted for assembly about atubular meinber of a fence or fence gate and having fastening means toclamp said portions about said tubular member. i

6. The invention as defined in claim I wherein said one componentcomprises a first housing including said pintle and defining firstencircling means for encircling a tubular member, said first housingbeing separable into two portions along a plane defined by the axis ofsaid first encircling means and a diameter of the said means, said othercomponent comprising a housing including cup-shaped supporting means forsupporting said pintle socket and defining second encircling means forencircling a tubular member, said first and second encircling meansbeing adapted to encircle a tubular member of a fence or fence gate,said second housing being separable into two portions along a planedefined by the axis of said encircling means of said other component anda diameter of said means, whereby the separated portions of each housingtogether can encircle a tubular member, and wherein each componentincludes fastening means to maintain each of the housings in unitaryrelationship.

cup-shaped supporting means.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 wherein said first housing isseparable along a plane defined by the said axes and the aligneddiameters of said encircling means defined by said first housing andsaid pintle, and said second housing is separable along a plane definedby the said axes and the aligned diameters of said encircling meansdefined by said second housing and said cup-shaped supporting means.

i t i I

1. A gate hinge and closer assembly arranged to close a fence gate, saidassembly comprising a bearing component and a hanger component, one ofsaid components adapted to be mounted on a fence post and the otheradapted to be mounted on a gate, one of said components having a hollowopen-ended pintle, a bearing member mounted in said pintle for axialmovement in relation thereto, and biasing means for biasing said bearingmember away from the base of said pintle along the axis of said pintle,the other of said components having a pintle socket and a cammingsurface fixedly disposed in said socket for rotation therewith, saidcamming surface having at least one valley and at least one ridge, saidbearing member having a bearing surface engageable with said cammingsurface, said bearing member upon rotation of said components withrespect to each other when opening of the gate in either direction beingoperable to move along said camming surface away from said valley towardsaid ridge and axially toward the base of said pintle, and thereby tocompress said biasing means, and said biasing means urging said bearingmember toward engagement with said valley of said camming surface andthe gate toward a closed position.
 2. The invention as defined in claim1 wherein said camming surface includes a pair of diametrically opposedvalleys and a pair of diametrically opposed ridges, said bearing memberhaving a pair of diametrically opposed cam following bearing surfaces.3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said valleys and the axisof said pintle socket define a plane which is perpendicular to the planedefined by said ridges and the axis of the pintle socket.
 4. Theinvention as defined in claim 3 wherein said pintle is cylindricallyshaped and said pintle socket comprises a cylindrical cup fixedlymounted with respect to said other component, said camming surface beinginteriorally, annularly formed on the bottom of said cup.
 5. Theinvention as defined in claim 1 wherein said components each comprisetwo separable portions adapted for assembly about a tubular member of afence or fence gate and having fastening means to clamp said portionsabout said tubular member.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 1wherein said one component comprises a first housing including saidpintle and defining first encircling means for encircling a tubularmember, said first housing being separable into two portions along aplane defined by the axis of said first encircling means and a diameterof the said means, said other component comprising a housing includingcup-shaped supporting means for supporting said pintle socket anddefining second encircling means for encircling a tubular member, saidfirst and second encircling means being adapted to encircle a tubularmember of a fence or fence gate, said second housing being separableinto two portions along a plane defined by the axis of said encirclingmeans of said other component and a diameter of said means, whereby theseparated portions of each housing together can encircle a tubularmember, and wherein each component includes fastening means to maintaineach of the housings in unitary relationship.
 7. The invention asdefined in claim 6 wherein said first housing is separable into twoportions along a plane defined by the axis of said encircling meansdefined thereby, the axis of said pintle, a diameter of said encirclingmeans of said one component and a diameter of said pintle, and saidsecond housing is separable into two portions along a plane defined bythe axis of said encircling means defined thereby, the axis of saidcup-shaped supporting means, a diameter of said encircling means definedthereby and a diameter of said cup-shaped supporting means.
 8. Theinvention as defined in claim 7 wherein said first housing is separablealong a plane defined by the said axes and the aligned diameters of saidencircling means defined by said first housing and said pintle, and saidsecond housing is separable along a plane defined by the said axes andthe aligned diameters of said encircling means defined by said secondhousing and said cup-shaped supporting means.